When the hoop hits the road

I’ve been so blessed this summer. With June came the opportunity to hit the road, first for WildFire, a Connecticut-based fire and flow arts festival. Check out this video, by Brandon/Hypnotic, featuring me, Julia Hartsel, Aileen, Noel, Brecken, Ian, MCP, Sticky, Zan, Lucas, Brandon himself.

We spent some time in New York City on the way in and out of WildFire, and I also had a chance to see Stefan (of Groovehoops), Malcolm, Brent and … Miss Saturn! It was a special thrill to connect with Miss Saturn, who I met once in 2006 and haven’t seen since. I absolutely love this hilarious, inspiring woman.

Let’s see, from there, I stopped in Portland, got into a big-ass pickup truck with Morgan, and we made our way to Vancouver, BC for another spin fest called MadSkillz Vancouver. I’d actually like to write about this more in-depth when I have more time. It basically involved me getting to stay with Alley ‘Oop (along with Miss Saturn, one of the few busking/comedy-style female hoop performers I know) and spin all weekend with a really great crowd of local Vancouver, national and international artists.

Now, I am sitting on a bench in Sebastopol, CA, in the midst of having the BEST TIME OF MY LIFE with the New Old Time Chautauqua Vaudeville Tour. We’re touring Northern California, partnering with communities along the way, and — gosh, this deserves more attention, too. For now, I’m going to just include a link to the Chatauqua blog (which I was tapped to write). It kind of explains what I walked into. The tour, co-founded by Patch Adams and the Flying Karamazov Brothers, has been going on for decades, and it is really a unique, community-based adventure.

Our show is about to start, so I will wrap up by reiterating how blessed I feel to be mobile (after such a long span of fall/winter immobility) and to be able to reconnect with friends again. I even spent a night with Spiral, Rich, Shakti, Isa and the SF gang after the Chautauqua San Francisco show. Hope to continue whirling near and far, as the summer progresses.